Food waste disposer apparatus



July 8, 1958 c. H. EWING FOOD WASTE DISPOSER APPARATUS Filed May 51, 1957 INVENTOR 2,842,320 Patented July 8, 1 958 FOOD WASTE DISPOSER APPARATUS Clifton H. Ewing, Easthampton, Mass, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 31, 1957, Serial No. cease? 4 Claims. 01. 241-46) grinder is thereby employed to comminute food particles removed from dishes by the dishwasher and to thereafter discharge these food particles into the household drain.

In many present-day food waste grinders, the grinding mechanism includes an impeller that is rotatably driven about a vertical axis by an electric motor to. whirl a mixture of food waste and water over a shredder member Within the grinding chamber of the disposer. In some installations, it has been noted that the rotating impeller acts as a pump and forces food waste particles and liquid out of the grinding chamber through the dishwasher discharge conduit communicating with the chamber. This invention relates specifically to an improved fluid inlet for the food waste disposer, and through which waste fluid from the dishwasher can be discharged into the disposer grinding chamber, and which precludes the pumping of waste fluid in a reverse direction out of the disposer.

The objectives of the invention are achieved by means of an inlet structure comprising a tapered protuberance or projection on the inner surface of the grinding chamber wall and through which passes the dishwasher drain passage. This drain passage converges toward its exit end to a generally rectangular outlet having greater height than width. In accordance with this invention, the discharge outlet is arranged normal to an imaginary line that is radially disposed with respect to the vertical axis I of rotationpf the waste grinder impeller. The tapered configuration of the projection provides converging deflecting surfaces at each side of the passage outlet and beneath the passage outlet, which surfaces join with, and are blended into, the inner surface of the grinding chamber wall. The arrangement is such that the waste mixture moving about in the disposer grinding chamber is deflected away from the outlet of the dishwasher drain passage with sufficient velocity to cause the fluid and particles to be carried away from or over the passage out-- let without entering the passage. The deflecting surfaces on either side of the projection are substantially identical and direct the waste fluid and particles away from the passage outlet regardless of the direction of rotation of the grinder impeller. This is considered to be an important feature inasmuch as most present day waste food disposers incorporate a reversible grinding mechanism.

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description thereof, of which the accompanying drawings form a part and wherein:

Fig. l is an elevational view, partially in section, illustrating a sink-mounted food waste disposer embodying this invention; 7

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the grinding chamber of the disposer at the improved auxiliary inlet therefor, and is taken as indicated by the line 11-11 in Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the interior of the disposer grinding chamber taken as indicated by the line IIIIII in Fig. 1.

Referring specifically to Fig. 1, the casing for the food waste disposer comprises upper and lower housings identified, respectively, by the numerals 11 and 12. The upper housing 11 is open at its top and is adapted to be supported beneath the drain opening of a sink 13 by a supporting structure that includes a tubular adapter sleeve 14. Food waste pieces or particles, together with water, are fed from the sink 13,through the sleeve 14 into a grinding chamber 15 defined by the walls of the disposer upper housing 11.

The lower portion of the grinding chamber 15 has a grinding mechanism disposed therein which includes a flywheel l6 and a pair of impellers 17 mounted on the upper surface of the flywheel. The flywheel 16 is driven by a vertical shaft 18 connected with an electric motor 30 disposed in the lower housing 12. The mixture of food waste and water in grinding chamber 15 is agitated and swirled about therein by the impellers 17 for the purpose of bringing the waste into contact with a shedder 19 which surrounds the flywheel 16. Shredded or ground waste flows over the periphery of the flywheel l6 and is conveyed into a drain conduit 20.

Energization of the motor 19 is controlled by a reversing switch indicated at 21 to enable the flywheel l6 and impellers 17 to be driven in either of two directions, at the will of the user of the appliance.

In accordance with this invention, the disposer upper housing 11 has an auxiliary inlet arrangement 23 therein through which waste wash fluid from a dishwasher 2.2 can be admitted to the grinding chamber 15. This inlet 23 enables the disposer to be employed to comminute waste food particles washed from dishes by the dishwasher 22 prior to conveying this wash water into the household drain. In prior food waste disposers having merely an opening in the disposer housing for the admission of waste dishwater, there has been a tendency for the violently whirling waste mixture in the disposer grinding chamber to be forced out of the disposer and into the dishwasher. This tendency is particularly apparent when the grindingv chamber of the disposer is entirely filled with water, as it would be when the sink thereabove is being drained. This invention provides a novel inlet arrangement 23 which prevents the waste mixture from being pumped from the grinding chamber back into the dishwasher 22.

The configuration of the improved inlet 23 is additionally illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. it will be noted that the upper housing 11 has integral wall portions thereof forming a protuberance or projection 24 on the inner wall surface thereof, which projection extends inwardly of the grinding chamber 15 above the shredder 19 ofthe grinding mechanism. The projection 24 has a converging inlet passage 25 extending there through from the exterior of the housing 11 into the grinding chamber 15. The outer, or large, end of the passage 25 communicates with a drain conduit '26 connected'with the outlet of the dishwasher 22. The inner end of the passage 25 terminates in a generally rectangular outlet 27 which is preferably disposed normal to a radial line extending from the axis of rotation of the disposer flywheel 16 (see Fig. 2). The rectangular out- 3 let 27 of the passage 25 is arranged with its larger dimension extending vertically in such a manner that the outlet presents a relatively narrow transverse dimension to the waste mixture whirling about in grinding chamber 15.

The projection 24 is tapered toward the middle of the grinding chamber and provides converging 'side wall surfaces 28 at each side of the passage outlet '27 and an inclined bottom surface 29 beneath the'outlet 27. The surfaces 28 and 29 of projection are preferably faired or blended into the inner surface of the housing it that defines the grinding chamber 15.

When the disposer is operating, and the waste mixture is being swirled about in grinding chamberlS, the converging exterior surfaces 28 and 29 of the projection 24 deflect the waste mixture away from passage outlet 27 sufliciently to cause the water and waste to move over or around the passage outlet 27 without entering the passage 26. The pumping of waste from the grinding chamber 15 back into the dishwasher 22 is thereby prevented.

The waste mixture agitated by the impellers 17 possesses principally rotary movement; i. e., it moves with the greatest velocity with a circular motion around the inner surface of the upper housing 11. The comparatively narrow width of outlet 27 presents but a small opening to the transversely moving waste mixture, which opening is easily passed over by the deflected flow. Vertical movement of the body of waste along the inner surface of housing 11 is less violent than therotary move- "..e waste and, hence, the sloping projection surface 29 is capable of deflecting vertically moving waste away from the outlet 27 in such a manner that the waste does not move vertically across the outlet 27.f Consequently, the outlet 27 may have a comparatively large vertical dimension to give the desired flow area for the admission of waste fluid from the dishwasher 22;

It will be noted that the projection surfaces 23 at either side of outlet 27 have substantially the same configuration and function to deflect the waste mixture away from the outlet 27 regardless of the direction of rotation of the flywheel 16. Note the solid and dotted line at rows in Fig. 2.

From the foregoing it will be apparent this invention effectively prevents the reverse flow of waste mixture from the grinding chamber of a Waste disposer through an inlet to the chamber and through which waste fluid can be conveyed from a dishwasher or the like.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a food waste disposer, a housing having a waste receiving opening therein; a waste grinding chamber below said opening; a waste grinder in the lower part of said chamber, said grinder including a flywheel rotatable about a vertical axis, an impeller mounted on said flywheel for rotation therewith, and a shredder on a wall of said chamber, said impeller being adapted to impart a whirling motion to waste material in said chamber for causing said material to move over said shredder; a waste discha ge beyond said grinder; and an auxiliary waste fluid inlet carried by said housing and communicating with said grinding chamber, said inlet being provided by a projection on the inner surface of said housing above said grinder and having a passage therein from the exterior to the interior of said housing, said passage being of converging configuration with the-narrow end thereof communicating with said grinding. chamber, saidpro jection being tapered at least on both sides and the bote 2,842,320 r r N A tom thereof from its junction with the inner surface of said housing toward the center of said housing.

2. In a food waste disposer, a housing having a waste receiving opening therein; a waste grinding chamber below said opening; a waste grinder in the lower part of said chamber, said grinder including a flywheel rotatable about a vertical axis, an impeller mounted on said flywheel for rotation therewith, and a shredder on a wall of said chamber, said impeller being adapted to impart a whirling motion to waste material to move said material over said shredder; a waste discharge beyond said grinder; and an auxiliary waste fluid inlet carried by said housing and communicating with said grinding chamber, said inlet being provided by a projection on the inner surface of said housing above said grinder and having a passage therein from the exterior to the interior of said housing, said passage terminating in a generally rectangular outlet having its larger dimension arranged vertically, said pro jection being tapered at least on both sides and the bottom thereof from its junction with the inner surface of said housing toward the center of said housing.

3. In a food waste disposer, a housing having a waste receiving opening therein; a waste grinding chamber below said opening; a waste grinder in the lower part of said chamber, said grinder including a flywheel reversibly rotatable about a vertical axis, an impeller mounted on said flywheel for rotation therewith, and a shredder on a wall of said chamber, said impeller being adapted to impart a whirling motion to waste material in said chamher for causing said material to move over said shredder; a waste discharge beyond said grinder; and an auxiliary waste fluid inlet carried by said housing and communicating with said grinding chamber, said inlet being provided by inwardly projecting integral portions of said housing disposed above said waste grinder and defining a converging passage extending from the exterior to the interior of said housing, said projecting portions of said housing being shaped to present to the interior of said housing smoothly curved surfaces from the exit end of said passage into the wall portions of said chamber beside and below said passage, the surface configurations of the said housing portions being substantially the same on either side of said passage.

4. In a food waste disposer, a housing having a waste receiving opening therein; a waste grinding chamber below said opening; a waste grinder in the lower part of said chamber, said grinder including a flywheel reversibly rotatable about a vertical axis, an impeller mounted on said flywheel for rotation therewith, and a shredder on a wall of said chamber, said impeller being adapted to impart a whirling motion to waste material to move said material over said shredder; a waste discharge beyond said grinder; and an auxiliary waste fluid inlet carried by said housing and communicating with said grinding chamber, said inlet being provided by inwardly projecting integral pertions of said housing disposed above said waste grinder and defining a passage from the exterior to the interior of said housing, said passage terminating in a generally rectangular outlet having its larger dimension arranged vertically, said projecting portions 0 aid honainu being shaped to present to the interior of boost a 1 curved surfaces from the outlet of said passage into the wall portions of said chamber beside and below said passage, the surface configurations of said housing portions being substantially the same on either side cl said passage outlet. 7.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kreiner Apr. 3, I951 

